


Players and Pieces

by orphan_account



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: I really needed to write something to figure out Nuru and Yong's voices, Inspired by Varian and the Seven Kingdoms - Kaitlyn Ritter & Anna Lencioni, M/M, Nuru has absolutely hadi t with Hugo's shit, Seven Kindoms AU, Yong can be brave too, no beta I die by my own hand because I'm a spiteful bitch, post-betrayal reveal, the Nuru and Yong content we deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24009046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Varian, in fit of rage in the face of betrayal, has retreated into the eternal library to follow his mother.Now, Hugo, Nuru and Yong must contend with each other—and Donella.
Relationships: Hugo/Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 85





	Players and Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> So as a reward for uploading the first chapter of my Older!Varian fic, It Leaves a Mark, I gave myself permission to draft this!
> 
> As of writing this there’s been a lot of Varigo content both fluffy and angsty, but not nearly as much content with Nuru and Yong. Which I think is a damn shame! They’re a part of this AU too! I think we just need to figure out how their voices fit into this story. So I’ll start.

**Edit: the author no long agrees with the Donella's characterization in this fic, but for the time being has decided to leave the fic up.**  
  
The storming portal to the eternal library died as suddenly as it had sparked—closing with a resounding _snap_ that echoed throughout the dim chamber _._ Hugo was left standing, his trembling hand still outstretched to a now empty space. As the dust settled, his thoughts, ambled to find purchase around the normally sharp edges of his mind. After a few moments, one rose to the surface, clinging.

Hugo had _lost_.

He had hedged his bets against his better judgement. Against Donella. Playing to win the long game, the type of con he had never been particularly good at.

Help the group. Then sabotage the group for Donella, only to save them at the last minute. Tell neither, deceive both. Just keep playing, keep working the board until fortunes turned in your favour. A nudge here, prodding the dealer to look the other way while he moved a piece—just one. Nothing they would miss. Winning was all in the little things. Anything to change his standing. But those little things meant the world to him.

Nuru and Yong had almost seen right through his smug veneer. _Had_ seen through it until Varian convinced them that Hugo might be redeemable. Worth more than just the asshole he painted himself as. The jerk that he _was._

_Varian._

Oh, how Varian had vexed him. Varian had made this job seem so easy with his talk about second chances. Even Yong knew better than to give someone so criminally cocky a pass—one that had quite literally just stolen the prize pool out from under them. An easy mark if there ever was one. Hugo didn’t need to see the boy’s hand to know what he had to play.

And then that boy had become the most unexpected variable across the whole damn game.

Varian, who had spent far too much time tinkering in an alchemical lab and not enough time learning how human beings worked. How _he_ worked. The stubborn boy that had to learn the hard way that he wasn’t always the smartest person in the room. How many times had they argued, back at the beginning? How many times had Yong, and eventually Nuru, gone running after Varian? How many times had _Hugo_ gone after the younger alchemist, lest his whole operation fall apart before he got what Donella needed out of it?

Varian, who had stammered and stuttered at Hugo’s casual flirtations. A blushing virgin. Easily distracted. It was hard to see the sleight of hand when you could barely look the older man in front of you in the eye.

It hadn’t seemed like a risk to Hugo, it really hadn’t. Hugo wore swarmy charm as a cloak. A wink here, an absolutely shameless comment there. Sweet nothings. People, rich assholes especially, were always more pliable when they thought they were getting something out of you from it.

But Hugo had never had to stick around his potential paramours.

Between the whole skull and duggery thing that came with thievery and working for Donella there had been no reason for it to be any other way. Always on the move, and under Donella’s straight-minded determination guiding their clandestine activities, it was hard to foster connections. No one stayed. Hired help rotated weekly if not sooner. Players came and left the table. All of them, oil for the gears.

If there was one thing he had learned from Donella, it was keeping his distance. Letting your thoughts run away with you was grievous mistake to make in schemes that often hung on by a thread. The stakes were too high to take that gamble. Risk was best managed by limiting it. 

The only constant had been him and Donella. He was starting to suspect that may have been intentional. Maybe not. The woman only seemed to really care about things related to the eternal library. Hugo was a necessary cog in the machinations of a woman bent on a single goal.

His losing streak began when he had started noticing the little things in Varian. The alchemist’s pale skin that betrayed his blushes so brilliantly was spotted with freckles. Eyes that shone, even in the murkiest of waters. A complexion unmarred by the years they had spent on the road. How his lips quivered when he couldn’t quite articulate when the gears in mind spun too fast for his mouth to catch onto them. How he talked to his raccoon when he thought no one was listening. How much he _cared_ for that damn raccoon. How much he cared for his _friends,_ even when caught in the throes of some scheme. How he had even let someone like Hugo be a part of that circle, once.

A pure focus and flow for science and experimentation. Varian would get lost in the confines of his own mind, working away at whatever idea had beset him. He was a kindred mind when it came to alchemy—even Donella didn’t have the attention to detail that Varian harboured. The _warmth_ Varian was so excited to share with others. How absolutely infectious it was—it had even wormed its way past Hugo’s aloof persona. That he would let that heat grace the inner confines of his heart.

Eventually he had to admit that he had done what he swore he would never do, was incapable of doing.

He was falling for someone, instead of the other way around.

So he smiled and nodded as he folded for the round. Never give up the game. You didn’t lose until you stopped playing.

Then Varian’s confrontation with Donella laid out the hand Hugo had been holding bare for all the world to see.

In the end, it had been empty. Hugo had run out of cards to play. For all his workings, for all of his investments into the pot, he had left himself with nothing.

Because a gamble is a short-term tactic. That’s all Hugo had been doing. Small play after small play. Chasing pay offs that never amounted to anything meaningful. Like watching those idiots at the gambling tables work their way from riches to rags. He had scoffed at them.t

But like those fools, he had forgotten the most important rule.

Play to win, expect to lose.

Because the house _always_ wins if you play long enough.

Donella hadn’t forgotten. She didn’t even need to remember it—the longer he stayed in the game, the farther he would fall when it all came crashing down. He had weighted the fates against himself. She didn’t need to do _anything._

He finally looked down at the woman who had raised him, lying unconscious on the stone floor. For the first time, he noticed how _haggard_ she looked, slumped across the cold tiles. How she had let the years wear on her, how her life devoid of anything but one pursuit had drained her. Her skin beginning to crease, mottled by sun spots. Scarred Long grey hair allowed to run its course, weaved into a rough braid, dry and brittle. How much smaller she seemed, now.

Despite everything, Hugo felt a mote of sympathy for the woman. The world was a tough place to live—she needed to be stronger. It couldn’t have been easy being such a cold-hearted bitch.

He reached down to turn her over onto her back. Donella always carried extra supplies under her coat.

A purple light exploded by his head before he got the chance. Sparks danced across the side of his face, stinging with every touch.

“...you missed.” Hugo said, barely a whisper. He could hardly speak for how chest his tight was, his usual smugness dissipated. Didn’t trust himself to even try.

“Hm, so I did. A shame really.” Nuru replied evenly.

Another light bursted in front of him, narrowly missing him as Hugo leapt back, heels skidding across the floor.

“…was that really necessary?” Hugo muttered.

“Definitely. I’m not giving you the satisfaction of recovering.” Nuru replied, already flashing another bolt at the tip of her finger, marching toward him.

She didn’t _storm_ over, no, that wasn’t Nuru. Her poise, ingrained in her from a young age, allowed nothing so brash. Instead it radiated off her in every carefully placed step toward him, unwavering. Hugo could feel the heat of each step, waving through him. Her mouth formed an increasingly sharp line as she neared him, nose wrinkling as her ferocity leaked through.

“I deserved that.” Hugo said. Something flashed across Nuru’s face. Uncertainty? Sympathy? Nuru narrowed her eyes, all hesitation lost in the moment.

“Nuru—” Yong interjected. The boy stood, just to the side wedged between them. Surprisingly, Hugo noted, Yong didn’t tremble in the wake of the devastation the last few minutes had brought. Sometimes, Hugo thought, Yong could be braver than him.

“Not now Yong.” Nuru interrupted, speaking over the boy’s last syllable. Hugo could expect no mercy, he noted grimly. He forced a staggered breath, in and out.

“Nuru, I know you must—” Hugo

“No.”

“I realize I—" Hugo continued. He knew he should stop, but the words tumbled away from him. How strange, to fumble with his craft.

“ _Shut it._ ” Nuru rebuked. “I am _done_ listening to your snark. I don’t _care._ ” Ah, there was the rage. The voice that usually told him to sneer back was silent. It knew better.

“You’re going to listen to _me._ And by Rawsha, you’re going to be _quiet_ about it.” Nuru said. There was the barest shiver in her fist as she said it. She glared up at him, looking for something. Seeming to find it, she continued “I need you to understand not only _how_ furious I am with you, but _why_.”

Hugo swallowed.

“You were a part of this group before I ever joined. Only Rawsha knows why anyone thought that was a good idea. I couldn’t see how Varian and Yong could even _stand_ you. The smugness was unbearable. You mocked us. You fought only for yourself, I wasn’t even sure if the rest of us crossed your mind! You were selfish, you—” Nuru seethed. She forced herself to take a breath.

“My intuition told me that trusting you a mistake. _Everything_ I have been taught told me to wise up to whatever you were scheming. I didn’t believe in you, but in Varian’s faith in you. I _chose_ to believe in him. In whatever he saw in you that I could not.”

“ _Oh my god **Varian**. _That poor boy. You couldn’t get _enough_ of him, could you? Tell me, at what point did you decide that your _disgusting_ attempts at seduction might be worth something?”

 _I don’t know._ Hugo opened his mouth to speak.

“Rhetorical question. Something I would expect you to be familiar with.” Nuru snapped. “You were going to eat him alive. And vomit him back up once you realized you didn’t like the taste of something good in your life.” Hugo glanced away to the side, struggling to look her in the eye. He gripped his other wrist nervously, attempting to shrink into himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so pathetic.

_Take all I can handle, throw it up and then run away in the morning._

“When he found his other family in the Earth kingdom, I was so sure he would see reason. That he would see what a snake you were. But instead you were the one to convince him to stay on our journey. Even I started trusting you at that point.”

“And then you disappeared during the trial, stranding us with no hope of making it out alive. Even then Varian held out for you. And then you reappeared, totem in hand like nothing had ever happened.”

 _Because I had the journal. And the totems. You guys were dead weight. It was the perfect opportunity to bail._ Hugo grimaced. Nuru seemed to take this as encouragement.

“I was so _mad._ So you got me something to try and make up for it, because you couldn’t just _apologize._ Couldn’t just _act_ better. I was shocked that you had even known what to get me. It seemed so thoughtful.”

_It wasn’t my idea, it was Varian’s._

“And then it turned out that you had stolen it, just like everything else. But I just laughed, because that was so _like you._ When I found it out it was from that double-crossing _bastard_ who hurt Yong I thought maybe there was some justice in the world. I let my guard down.”

“Uh, guys…” Yugo said nervously. Why was _Yugo_ crumbling? Hugo was the one under fire here. Neither acknowledged the boy.

“Did you ever wonder why Varian decided to give you a second chance?”

_Every day, and every day after that._

“Did he ever tell you about his history in Corona?” Nuru questioned, more intensely this time. Hugo blinked.

_He was a brilliant alchemist surrounded by idiots._

“Really guys, I think she’s—"

Nuru was shaking. Forcing herself to collect her thoughts, she closed her eyes. Awesome fury swept over her as she stomped right up to him, pointing a hand inches from his face. “You will never find anyone as trusting or as kind as Varian. _Never_. Because not only is he a rarity, but because you will never deserve it. Because you will always be rotten. Because _I_ won’t let you, so long as it is in my power to do so. Because—”

“GUYS!” Hugo yelled. Nuru and Hugo both turned, startled by the outburst. “I get that you’re mad Nuru! I am too! But I reeeeally think we should be doing this later!”

“I think we were almost done.” Hugo muttered.

“Like _hell_ we were!” Nuru swore.

“You should really listen more to your little friends, Hugo.” Donella said calmly. Hugo jolted, glancing at the space her unconscious body had occupied. Empty, save for a small trail of blood where Donella’s head had hit the stonework. She should still be out. He turned to where the voice had come from.

Standing between the trio and the assembled totems was Donella, arms folded. Blood casually trailing over her ear, already beginning to dry. Staring them down unerringly, for the naïve fools they were.

 _Stupid._ In all the time he had worked for her he had never seen Donella go down for more than a few moments.

“Really boy, I thought I trained you better than this. Never turn your back on an armed combatant.” Donella scolded, unfolding her arms to pull at a hidden blade. One of his poisons glistened along its edge in the dim candlelight. “Never turn your back on _me._ ”

Hugo could sense Nuru channeling her fury onto a different target. Even Yong had turned to face the woman, his fear forgotten.

 _Oh no._ These two thought they could win, because they had knocked her down once already. That the head injury might slow her down.

But they didn’t know Donella like he did. They didn’t know the ire she held onto. How it could be unleashed at a moment’s notice. How every obstacle only drove her further, each a chance to build that fury. How she had ruthlessly cut down so many people in his life at the first sign of betrayal. How she had cleaned up after his so many of his fuck ups.

“You’ve certainly fucked this up royally, but there might be a chance for you yet Hugo. I am not without my small mercies.”

_Bullshit._

“These _children_ are not your friends, or did you forget that? Cut them down, and then we can see if we can clean up your mess. I’ll even let you keep that toy you’ve seem to have grown attached to, if there’s anything left of it.”

Nuru fixed her gaze on him, waiting. Narrowed her eyes as he took a half step back. She reached a hand toward him, and another towards Donella, both brimming with magic potential. Good, he wouldn’t trust him either.

Yong looked over at Nuru, puzzling over something a moment. Then he turned to Hugo, nodded, and directed his attention back to Donella seemingly decided. He could trust Nuru to handle Hugo. He just needed to fend off the bigger threat long enough.

Somehow that hurt more than anything Nuru had screamed at him.

Now it was his turn to decide.

His was out of moves, the timer was up, he held no tricks up his sleeve. Donella knew every foul move in his arsenal. Had taught most of them herself. Knew more than he did about alchemy probably.

Except.

Except Hugo wasn’t entirely the man she knew anymore. Hadn’t been, since he had decided to come back to the group. Every time he made a play against her, trying desperately to change the board. Every day that he continued to make the decision to change his loyalties. As Varian looked at him more and more like he could be something better. Like he might find something worth snatching away from fate’s designs, something worth more than himself.

Mustering up whatever was left of the tenacity that had gotten him through so many years on the run with Donella, Hugo released his vice grip on his wrist. Nuru flinched. He nodded at her, and then at Yugo.

Dragging a hand to his hidden pocket, Hugo took note of what was left of his arsenal. The answer was note much—a couple sticky bombs, one of his smoke bombs, and a small knife. Most of his gadgets had been lost in earlier brawls, and his more insidious compounds had long since been used up (and the group never approved of them to begin with). If Nuru hadn’t stopped him…there was no point in worrying about that now. That outcome had already been decided.

Donella smiled. The scar running down her cheek curled her grin unevenly. And then she was on them in moments, rushing to close the distance between them.

Nuru jumped to the side, launching a flurry of purple bolts. Donella weaved around them. Nuru aimed at the woman’s feet. Donella hurtled herself sideways out of her charge, landing haphazardly on her feet.

Yong did not waste the moment. He tossed a handful of fire cracker bombs. Some exploded in the air around the woman; the rest pounded against her armour.

Hugo bit his lip. He could tell the kid was pulling his punches with the way the impacts landed. Yong had been working hard to produce more controlled explosions. The damper on their power meant that they wouldn’t be enough to get through Donella’s hardened armor.

Hugo dived into the fray before she could think to recover. His hearted pounded as he reached for one of his sticky bombs. Sweaty fingers fumbled around the smooth glass. He knew that Donella wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

He launched the pink vial as he rounded on her.

Too close. Donella’s hand shot up and snatched it right out the air, pulling her hand back to carry the momentum of the throw.

_Shit!_

Without thinking Hugo leapt out her direct line of sight and readied his knife. He knew better than to give his opponent an easy opportunity.

One of Nuru’s missiles sizzled past his head, arcing off centre of Donella. He could hear her upset between beats. His vision swam as the heat of her magic filled the space around him.

Out of focus, he could make out Donella exchanging concoctions. He rushed forward, knife in hand.

Glass splintered, and the space around them was filled with a plume of blue smoke. His eyes watered. He tumbled into an empty space where Donella once stood.

Another crack—

“You always did rely too much on your sight.”

He froze. Or rather, his legs did as the rest of him continued his fall. He landed hard on his hands, wrists shooting sharp pains into his arms.

“I’ll deal with you after.” Donella snarled as she sliced across his lower back. The weak spot in his armor. How the hell was she _breathing_ in all this dust?

Pain quickly seared across his back. Hugo wondered only for a moment which of his brews she had laced her weapons with. An icy wave answered him. Radiating out not from the wound, but from somewhere else inside him, the sensation told him enough.

Feeling his core muscles weaken, he forced himself into a more comfortable position as he quickly as he could. A back injury made it hard to place himself well. Lying back would only aggravate the injury further, but lying forward would make interfering with the fight difficult.

And…he wouldn’t be able to treat it…himself. His limbs began to let their exhaustion show, lowering him down to the floor abruptly. He fell on his outstretched arm. Face planted against the stone. Legs twisted awkwardly.

 _Did she…modify…his solution?_ Hugo thought numbly. His arms wouldn’t move. He urged his mouth to form a syllable, to warn them. The effort was lost on muscles deaf to his commands. The connection was off.

The last thing he saw was Donella barrelling toward Nuru, a hazy image of black and purple.

Yong was _mad._ His bombs had barely grazed the woman. He threw more after her, all of which she ignored as she took down Hugo and pivoted towards Nuru. He experimentally threw his nastiest bomb—Donella laughed and dodged out of the way with aplomb. At least that got a reaction out of her.

This whole situation pissed him off. He was being ignored in favour of his companions, assumed to be the smallest threat. Again.

When he had been kidnapped, they hadn’t even considered grabbing Nuru, who was a _princess_ for heaven’s sake. They didn’t check him for his fire crackers. He took the first opportunity they gave him—which hadn’t taken very long at all—and very bravely fought off his attackers, at least until more cronies had shown up.

In the Earth trial, he had seen the solution before anyone else. The group had been too caught up in whatever drama was going on with Varian and Hugo to see sense. Actually, that kind of thing had happened a lot. He would often cut through whatever nonsense was going on by ignoring it in favour of dealing with _what was actually in front of them_

Yong wasn’t stupid. He had proven so countless times. But he was always the baby of the group, despite travelling with them for almost two years now.

He could see Hugo lying unconscious between them. Yong didn’t bother to check on the man. Hugo couldn’t help them at this point, and he couldn’t muster the care to see if his former companion was still alive. He wasn’t entirely sure how he’d check for that anyway.

Nuru was desperately running as she launched bolt after bolt at Donella. Donella for her part seemed to be enjoying herself, judging by the number of openings she was leaving for Nuru to escape to.

Yong needed to think. But there wasn’t time for that—he had to decide. Did he fish for Hugo’s supplies or go straight to Nuru? He couldn’t do both.

…but someone else could. He darted his eyes around the room. There, behind a pillar lay Ruddiger, forgotten in the midst of combat.

He dashed over to the racoon’s hiding place. He whispered what he needed to the creature, hoping that Ruddiger’s pre-natural understanding of human speech was enough. Ruddiger nodded, looking between him and Hugo. Yong put on a brave face, and the pair split up.

Donella was closing in on Nuru, angling the girl toward one of the far corners. Running as fast as his legs would carry him, Yong raced across the chamber toward them.

“Hey!” Yong shouted, pulling out a fistful of medium power fire bombs and tossing them all at once. He did not stop running, tossing handful and after handful of small explosives. Eventually Donella deigned to turn around, glaring at the boy.

Distantly, Yong heard Ruddiger chittering with what he thought sounded like satisfaction. Sweat poured through his clothes.

“Did you just forget about me?! ‘cause I’m right here—” Yong hesitated a moment. “ _Bitch!_ ”

Nuru did not chastise him this time.

Wasting no time, Yong pulled a couple of his larger scale bombs and threw them between the other pair as best he could. Donella pursed her lips and immediately ducked away from the impact. Nuru did not react as quickly, used to ranged combat. Yong regretted not warning her for a moment, but he needed to be sudden and loud.

Ruddiger palmed a vial into his hand. He did not check to see if it was the right one. He threw it where he predicted Donella would land and prayed.

The glass shattered just as Donella landed a few feet away from Nuru. _It’s too far, I missed dammit I missed! Again! Nuru—_

Donella’s feet skidded with a satisfying screech right into the bubbling chemical. With a hiss it solidified before she could escape its grasp. The solution turned a familiar, satisfying pink. Yong _breathed_.

Nuru blinked. Then seeming to understand the situation, started muttering an incantation Yong hadn’t heard before. The hem of her dress hovered, gaining lift on an invisible stream of magic. The constellations in the fabric blinked in sequence.

Donella watched, before, for the first time they had seen, her eyes widened as she took in the scene before her. Yong threw a firecracker in the woman’s face.

The chant finished, but the patterns still continued to glow. Nuru closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. Slowly, she brought her hand forward and pointed it at Donella.

And for the first time, Yong saw how the constellations on her dress could rearrange themselves.

An after image of the starry pattern rose up. As if almost being dragged into a black hole at the tip of Nuru’s finger, the stars moved to form a glowing pin prick of light. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, it shot forward and landed squarely on Donella’s forehead.

A silent moment passed.

“Girl, what magic is—” Donella _screeched_ as light pierced through her eyes from inside her head. The woman pulled at her face frantically as if trying to dig through to whatever was burning inside her.

Yong stepped back nervously.

“Don’t worry Yong, it won’t kill her as long as I don’t let it.” Nuru said with unnatural levity. That did not reassure him.

“Nuru, what are you—”

“I’m not allowed to tell you unfortunately. Royal secrets and such.” Nuru looked at him sympathetically as Donella continued to scream. Furrowing her brow, Nuru turned back to the woman, and made a quick turn of her hand. Donella choked.

“Nuru!” Yong yelled, shaking. His bravery was running out as the rush of combat left him.

Abruptly it ended—whatever it was—and Donella dropped to the floor just barely catching herself before she slammed against the ground. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth as she gagged on the air suddenly granted to her.

“Nuru…that was…I’ve never seen you do…that.” Yong breathed.

“And you won’t ever again, probably.” Nuru rasped. Yong looked back at his companion. She was covered in sweat, panting heavily. He thought he saw her wobble a bit. Yong immediately went to her side, which ended up being the correct decision as the older girl fell over him. He nearly buckled under the weight as his own legs shook. But he held firm. After a moment, Nuru pushed herself off of him and onto the floor.

Despite everything, Donella managed a hoarse groan as she looked back up at them, somehow still eyeing them fiercely.

None of them moved. A standstill had been reached. Yong at least felt assured that the goo hold in her in place wouldn’t relent any time soon. And conveniently, they were out of the dissolution compound.

His head pounded as sensation began to return to his limbs. His veins pulsed with blood as if they were unfamiliar with it, ebbing and flowing uneasily with his heart beat.

This was going to be a _bitch_ of a hangover Hugo thought grimly. The poison had at least not taken his snark from him, as much as the quip hurt his head to think about. He lolled his head over.

“You’re up then. Good.” a voice said too loudly beside him. Looking up, Hugo could see Nuru looking down at him, arms folded. He shambled about himself, his legs still trapped in goo. She made no movement to help him.

“We managed to take Donella down again. Without you.” Nuru noted.

“Right, um—”

“Don’t worry, she won’t be moving. We’re out of goo dissolver.” She said, a note of smugness creeping into her voice.

Which meant he also wasn’t moving anytime soon. Sheepishly, he looked up at her.

“Soooo I guess that means we get the chance to finish our lovely conversation.” Hugo muttered.

“I’ll bring the tea.”

“Oh will you now?”

“I was hoping almost dying would take some of the snark out of you, but apparently not.”

“A shame, really. But what would you do without—” Hugo started before a wave of nausea rolled through him. Nuru raised her eyebrow.

“At this point in time I would like to remind you that you’re arguing with the only person capable of giving you the medical assistance you desperately need.”

“Duly noted.” Hugo coughed between spasms. Nuru sighed. She bent down, levelling her face with his as she stared him down.

“One last thing before I help you, even though you certainly don’t deserve it.”

“Gods—what do you _want,_ woman?”

“[I hope you’re satisfied](https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Wii6mpCnH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link), because after all this is said and done, I will drag your sorry _ass_ back to the Iron Kingdom myself and you will never see hide nor hair of us again.” Nuru smiled. “Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what Nuru’s power set is. I assumed light cleric + air kingdom princess magic and rolled with it.
> 
> Let’s assume that Yong's supply of bombs is always more than what people expect.
> 
> Thanks for sticking through this. Thoughts?


End file.
